UP clinches 3-peat UAAP CDC championship tilt

The UP Pep Squad (photo courtesy of Yahoo! News)

The University of the Philippines defended its title as the UAAP Samsung Cheerdance champion for three years in a row on Saturday, tying the eight-time record of the University of Santo Tomas in competition’s history.

Surprising the crowd of nearly 20,000 with their shaved heads at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena, the UP Pep Squad executed an almost flawless routine, if not for an error on the final lift where one of their cheerdancer lost her balance.

The Pep Squad also bagged the UAAP Cheerdance Stunts competition and the Samsung Cheerdance Stunner plum titles. They took home P340,000 and pocket phones for the top prize.

The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe
(photo courtesy of my dear org, TomasinoWeb)

Meanwhile, the jungle-inspired theme of the Far Eastern University (FEU) Cheering Squad sealed its 10^th consecutive year in the podium as they finished second with P200,000 cash price.

The Disney-inspired theme of National University (NU) Cheer Squadron, this year’s host school, nailed them on third spot with P140,000. This is the first time that NU made it top 3 in the entire history of UAAP cheerdance competition.

The FEU and NU also won as first runner-up and second runner-up in Samsung group stunts competition, respectively.

On the other hand, the Brazilian-inspired performance of the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe failed to land the top three spot by finishing fourth for the second time. It was in 2006 when the Salinggawi last won the championship title.

The DLSU Animo Squad knocked down on the fifth spot from its first runner-up stint last year after giving out a boxing-inspired performance.

The anime-inspired theme of the Ateneo Blue Babble Battalion placed them on sixth, while the Adamson Pep Squad with a K-pop performance finished seventh. The University of the East Pep Squad, sporting a blonde hairdo and red cape draping from their backs, ended last.